Movie Review: 'Paranormal Activity' Horror Film Has Best Scenes when the Video Camera Rolls

In the October flick "Paranormal Activity," a young couple moves into a suburban home only to find out that there is something already living there, and judging from the videotapes of this strange visitor, it's possibly a demon. Katie tells her boyfriend Micah that she has been harassed by some creepy being before they met, and she has nightmares regularly. Micah takes Katie's confession as a joke and decides he's going to find out whether there really are demons in their home. To his surprise, things start happening in their home that neither one of them did-and the videotapes are proof. But the demon doesn't seem to care or know that it's being videotaped. Its focus is on getting to Katie and scaring away professional demon doctors, and Micah stops smiling once he realizes that this thing won't stop until it gets what it wants. But what does it want?

I'm a hardcore horror movie lover, but I spent more time laughing at the two unpaid movie critics who came to see the film with me than I did being shocked by anything in "Paranormal Activity." Their comments: "Don't these people go to work?" "Why are they still in the house?" "What type of demon flushes the toilet and when did demons start using the bathroom?" "I would've moved out a long time ago" and "Does this lady wear anything besides tanktops?"

"Paranormal Activity" isn't the type of scary movie that you go home and have nightmares about unless your imagination in the dark is really outrageous, and although my two comrades found the horror movie to be boring but "terribly hilarious," I noticed one of them dropped his head before the finale scene of the movie, which was the very best part. Scared? He claimed he "just didn't want to see it." I'm skeptical.

I enjoyed the horror film. Some of Micah's antics to catch the demon were creative but absolutely dumb. However, as soon as that videotape rolled, "Paranormal Activity" had my attention just to see what the demon would do next. Katie Featherston definitely earned her role because when she let out a scream, it was that kind of torturous scream that made me sit back in my seat. Micah, played by Micah Sloat, was more amusing than he was mysterious although he tried to come off as protective and optimistic.

I'd give this horror film 4 out of 5 stars for creativity with the video camera. This R-rated film is not nearly as creepy as "The Blair Witch Project," which also made use of a video camera documentary style, but the sound effects and each bed scene was what made me enjoy this film.